Welcome to the world of WALES WALKING FOOTBALL
This website will hopefully give you an overview of some of our activities and the fun and enjoyment it brings to many. we encourage active participation for everybody at all levels. We would love to hear from you either with questions or comments. Please use the contact page and we will get back to you.
Walking Football in Wales
Walking Football is the fastest growing and newest sport in Wales
Since first played in 2013, many organisations such as WFA, Communities First and others have helped to start this new sport. The first formal tournament was held in 2016 by Game on Wales (Coalfields Regeneration Trust) and this helped kickstart the formation of new clubs playing competitively throughout Wales.
Who is Walking Football For?
The sport is uniquely aimed specifically at men over 50 and women over 40 who still want to play the beautiful game, keep fit but not get injured or hurt. Typically, teams are 6 a side and play indoors and outside. Presently the sport is completely self-funded by the players.
Today there is a thriving national Wales league and international squad playing friendly and competitive tournaments around the world including in Italy, France, Qatar, Denmark, Ireland and Switzerland. The sport is now affiliated to the FAW and a formal member of the global organisation for Walking Football the International Walking Football Federation , and has achieved success internationally.
How did this all start?
In 2017 two key figures emerged to bring everyone together - Martin Ransom and Hedley Austin. Together they made preparations for both a national Wales walking football team and club competitions.
A National League
The National walking football league started in 2019 with two age groups - over 50 and over 60. The national leagues have always been open to men and women, and a few women did take part right from the start. There was a single league for each age group, with clubs from both North and South Wales taking part (ten clubs at over 50 and seven at over 60).
In 2019 the Wales Walking Football Federation was formed to encouraged its member clubs to play friendlies against other clubs as a preparation for the launch of the new leagues which happened in 2020.
In 2022 new categories were created for women’s teams and over 70’s men.
The Future
Today the league has grown massivly in size so that there are now three Men's Welsh Leagues - North & Mid, South East and South West, with over 50 teams combined - with the 50/60's teams - winners/runners up playing each other in a playoff to decide the national champions of Wales.
The 2024/25 season will see sixteen women’s teams compete across three leagues – The Premier League, Championship and new for this year, a Development League which consists of four new teams who are brand new to the league.
Over 1000 players are participating regularly.
Wales has men’s national teams for ages over 50, 60, 65, 70 and 75+ plus, together with Women’s national teams for ages over 40, over 50 and 60+.
The growth of the sport has been phenomenal over the last few years (despite being interrupted by Covid) and we envisage that growth of the sport at club level and internationally will continue as the sport’s profile increases.
We have now restructured our governance model to accommodate the growth and become an associate member of the Football Association of Wales and the International Walking Football Federation. All categories of our national teams entered the World Championships in June 2022 and will compete again when the finals are held in Sweden 2025 .